Prior art solutions for directional drilling have included the Easy Bore fluid boring system from Vermeer Corporation of Iowa. The Easy Bore fluid boring system is a boring rig attached to a wheel for movement and a stand. The Easy Bore system has a length of 160 inches and maximum drill angles of 10.degree.-20.degree.. The operating weight is roughly 1000 lbs. It incorporates a simple chain-driven borer.
Another directional drilling system is available from Underground Technologies, Inc. of Byron Calif. The system is called the GBS directional drilling system family. The GBS family of drilling systems provides a portable unit that provides its own means of locomotion via a set of tank-like treads where the guided boring system is wheeled to the spot. A chain-driven boring drill is used to affect the drilling. The GBS family of directional drilling systems are limited in their ability to provide remote power and can not accomplish large changes in directional drilling angles.
An alternative directional drilling system is available from Auger's Unlimited, Inc. of Ashland, Ohio. The Drill Master directional drilling machine model DDU-10 is a system providing a chain-driven boring system that is able to be wheeled to the spot of drilling. The Drill Master is both limited in power and in changes of angle of drilling.
Prior art directional drilling systems also require extensive set up time which contributes to increasing costs of operation.
It is therefore the motive of the invention to provide a more flexible and powerful directional drilling system that can drill at a wide range of angles and that is more easily set up with a minimum of operator intervention.